A company I've been following on Instagram for a long while now is Saints of Mohka, it wasn't even coffee that pulled me into discovering the greatness behind Saints of Mokha - it was actually a particular piece of latte art, a beautiful tulip with 4 words underneath red velvet hot chocolate. Since then they've had me hooked.
(I should also mention that this is a very late blog post, it was actually meant to be posted last year, however life has got in the way, but as I always say, better late than never!)
The lovely Omar got in touch with me about a particularly special coffee coming to Saints of Mokha with a revival of a forgotten coffee's history and asked if I wanted to be part of sharing this beautiful story, and of course I did.
So to start - Who are Saints of Mokha?
"Established in 2016, Saints of Mokha is a young, family run business. We're excited about the intricate history of coffee, and passionate about sourcing and roasting the highest quality coffee available
For us it's more than coffee."
The Coffee
In the 16th century, Yemen had a monopoly on coffee. Coffee beans were roasted or boiled prior to export so that they could not be planted and grown elsewhere. On his travels back to India from the Hajj pilgrimage, a Sufi Saint named Baba Budan discovered the wonders of coffee during a brief stay in Mokha, Yemen. He fell in love with the drink, so he smuggled 7 coffee beans out from Yemen, hidden in his beard.
He planted them on the hills of his home town, which still grows coffee today. The area has come to be known as Baba Bundangiri: Hills of Baba Budan.
Grown by Ravi Ramu on his 550 acre farm in Chikmagalur; in the Baba Budangiri region of India. Being over 125 years old, the farm has a strong heritage and very good relations with the surrounding villages, providing necessities and free healthcare to villagers.
The farm is located in the higher Baba Budangiri hills, which is one of the best places in India to grow speciality coffee. This region is in the Shola Forest, which is known for high density forest trees and rich volcanic soil. The coffee here is shade grown, which gives it a unique and beautiful flavour profile.
The Beans
Process: Natural
Varietal: Chandragiri
Altitude: 1280MASL
Supports Indian farmers with amenities and healthcare.
Taste notes - a magical array of blackcurrant, raspberry, vanilla with a sweetness of golden syrup.
Let's Brew!
Brewer: V60
Recipe: 15g/225g
3 Minute Total Brew Time
Ratio: 1:15
Taste: This coffee as soon as it was brewed gave off some super berry aromas, with a delicious jammy taste.
As it cooled slightly, the super berry sweetness came through with a really nice blackcurrant acidity, with some tasty syrup aftertastes.
I went through this bag of coffee super quickly (it was the only coffee I drank for days!!) and its definitely on my re-order list for 2022!
This is a super exciting coffee to be involved with the story! It's still available to buy via Saints of Mokha (click here!)
Find Saints of Mokha
Website - here
Instagram - here
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